28 January 2026 

Eleven organisations working to address some of London’s most deep-rooted inequalities are receiving over £10.2 million in long-term funding, through grants of up to seven years, as part of the first group of organisations funded through Propel’s Long-Term Grants Programme. 

The funded organisations work across areas including support for young people, disability justice, racial equity, gender justice, mental health, and community strength. Together, they are focused on tackling major challenges faced by Londoners and changing the systems and services that shape people's lives. 

At least 85% of the funding has been awarded to organisations led by and for the communities they serve, reflecting a deliberate focus on lived experience and community leadership. The long-term funding marks a significant shift in funding practice. Rather than short-term, project-based grants which only address the symptoms of inequality, this programme is designed to give organisations enough time, stability, and flexibility to tackle the root causes of the inequalities affecting their communities. 

Three of the organisations set to benefit from the funding are Sister System, Inclusion Barnet, and Reaching Higher.  

Sister System works with care-experienced girls and young women, including those from racially marginalised communities, as they navigate the transition to adulthood. Their work focuses on addressing the combined challenges created by the care system as well as education and employment pathways which too often leave young women without stable support. 

Inclusion Barnet is a Disabled People’s Organisation working to challenge disablism within advice, support and service delivery. Its work aims to strengthen Disabled-led provision and, working with partners, improve how advice and support services are experienced by Disabled people.  

Reaching Higher works with young people in Croydon who are at risk of exclusion from education, services and opportunities. It brings together youth organisations, schools and local services to help prevent problems escalating into crisis, including exclusion, safeguarding concerns, and involvement with the criminal justice system.

Propel is a collaboration of funders powered by London Funders. Funding for the Long-Term Grants Programme is pooled through Collaboration Circle, which holds funds on behalf of City Bridge Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund. The programme was shaped with Propel partners, drawing on learning about what enables lasting change, including time, trust, flexibility and putting decision-making power closer to communities. 

Pooling funding through Collaboration Circle has allowed funders and equity partners to decide how funding is awarded together, rather than decisions being made separately. This brings together funder expertise, alongside the knowledge and experience of organisations working closest to communities. The approach helps to ensure that funding decisions are better informed and grounded in real-world needs and realities.

Alongside the funding, organisations will be supported through long-term relationships with Collaboration Circle focused on learning and adaptation, rather than one-off grants and compliance-heavy reporting.

Introducing the first cohort of long-term funding organisations

BelEve UK is working to ensure that young women from marginalised communities, particularly Black and minoritised girls, can access education and careers with clear progression pathways. Its work targets exclusionary recruitment practices, bias in education-to-work transitions and the absence of visible role models and professional networks — barriers that require sustained intervention across systems. 

Gendered Intelligence is supporting trans and non-binary people to reshape the systems that exclude them by building confidence, leadership and collective power. Described as a ‘generational shift’, this work centres long-term movement-building, visibility and influence — outcomes that cannot be achieved within short funding cycles. 

Godwin Lawson Foundation focuses on enabling young people and community partners to influence policy and practice around exclusion, violence and safety. By creating routes for lived experience to shape decision-making, its work aims to improve relationships between communities and institutions and reduce harm over time. 

Inclusion Barnet is tackling disablism within the social welfare advice sector by strengthening Disabled-led provision and increasing the accessibility of the mainstream advice workforce. Its work seeks to rebalance power within advice systems so that Disabled People’s Organisations are part of the core ecosystem, not operating at the margins. 

Inclusion London is working to reduce the structural barriers and discrimination faced by Disabled Londoners by developing strong, representative Disabled leadership and clearer career pathways into the Disabled People’s Organisation sector. This long-term approach addresses both exclusion from decision-making and sustainability within the sector itself. 

London Village Network is addressing ‘network poverty’ — the lack of access to professional relationships that shape future opportunities — by ensuring young people build meaningful connections beyond their immediate social circles. Its work also targets employer systems, shifting corporate engagement from charitable add-ons towards embedded recruitment and workforce strategies. 

Mums-Aid Maternal Mental Health Support CIC is embedding inclusive, trauma-informed and youth-specific approaches within maternal mental health systems. By strengthening practice, culture and young mothers’ influence within local decision-making, its work aims to deliver lasting change across health and support services. 

Reaching Higher is building a culturally responsive, youth-led ecosystem of statutory and community services in Croydon. Its long-term focus is on prevention - reducing exclusions, violence and safeguarding harms by reshaping how services work together around young people’s wellbeing. 

Sister System supports care-experienced girls and young women, particularly those from Global Majority backgrounds, to have the same opportunities to thrive as their peers. Its work addresses the intersecting systems of care, education and employment that too often fail young women as they transition to adulthood. 

Skills Enterprise is embedding a culturally responsive, community-led model of digital inclusion and employability into mainstream systems. By ensuring those most affected by exclusion are leading solutions, its work challenges deficit-based approaches to skills and access. 

YourStory is dismantling barriers to returning to education for young people with long-term health conditions and intersecting inequalities, including those related to race, income and communication needs. Its work targets the structural features of education systems that prevent re-entry and progression. 

Together, these organisations reflect the ambition of Propel’s Long-Term Grants Programme: to support communities experiencing structural inequality to lead change that is systemic, sustained and rooted in lived experience. 

Reflecting on the announcement:

Fran Humber, Director of Fundraising at Sister System said: 

“Being part of this 7-year systems change grant is a huge moment for Sister System and for the care-affected young women we support. It gives us the time, stability and partnership needed to challenge the systems around them and create meaningful, long-term change.” 

Caroline Collier, Chief Executive of Inclusion Barnet said:

“We are absolutely delighted that Propel has given us the support to sustain and develop our systems change work around recruitment and retention of Disabled advice workers. They’ve showed genuine engagement and interest in the learning that has come from our insights so far, and I’m very much looking forward to continuing to work with them over the coming years.” 

Jordan Ignatius, Chief Executive of Reaching Higher said:

“The Propel grant has enabled us to lay the foundations for meaningful systems change in Croydon, moving from isolated pockets of good practice to influencing how schools, statutory services and community organisations listen to and work alongside young people. This work is only just getting started, and we are excited about the depth of learning and partnership that will develop as young people continue to shape the systems designed to support their wellbeing and futures.” 

Geraldine Blake, Director of Collaboration and Development, London Funders and Collaboration Circle said:

"This first cohort shows what becomes possible when funders commit to working together for the long term. By pooling resources and sharing power, Propel is creating the conditions for organisations and communities to lead change that simply cannot happen within short funding cycles.” 

Rebecca Roberts, Associate Director of Programmes and Partnerships at City Bridge Foundation said:

“We’re excited to see these organisations progressing on long-term missions to challenge and change the systems that create serious and persistent disadvantages for many of the capital’s communities. We wish them well and look forward to working with more organisations as this initiative grows.” 

Helen Bushell, Senior Head of Funding for London, South East & East at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:

“We know not every community has had the same starting point. Some face more complex and deep-rooted challenges than others. That’s why we’re delighted to be part of Propel - pooling funding to bring about bolder change. We know that to deliver the impact our communities deserve, we must work in partnership. And we’re delighted to be part of this unique collaborative effort to transform lives.” 

This first group of organisations to receive funding marks the start of a new phase for Propel, testing how long-term, collaborative funding can better support organisations and communities to lead lasting change. Learning from the programme will be shared with the wider funding and civil society sector as the work develops, with further grants to be announced over the coming months across London.